IMC Plan for The North Face: Vegan Collection Launch, 2020

This report outlines an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan for The North Face's new vegan product line, Feelfree. The plan begins with an introduction, followed by an analysis of macro trends in the vegan fashion market, including rising demand and online purchasing behavior. It identifies the target audience as vegan consumers, considering their demographics and social media usage. The report then focuses on creating value through a core product proposition of veganism, comfort, and style, detailing actual and extended product elements like materials, design, online availability, and customer service. The plan emphasizes conveying value through the SOSTAC model, setting SMART objectives for brand awareness and social media engagement, and detailing strategies and tactics for online and offline marketing, including content marketing, influencer collaborations, and public relations. The report also includes a conclusion and references.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION PLAN
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Describing the value...............................................................................................................3
3. Creating the value...................................................................................................................5
4. Conveying the value...............................................................................................................7
5. Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
Reference list............................................................................................................................13
Appendices...............................................................................................................................16
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1. Introduction
The main objective of this assessment is to develop a plan of marketing communication,
which will help to introduce a new range of vegan products of a reputed existing brand. For
fulfilling the purpose of this study, The North Face Company is chosen. Moreover, it helps to
popularize a product range among potential customers. Social media is a cost-effective and
useful tool that helps business owners to reach a large mass of customers in a small amount
of time. In this study, the target group and value proposition are discussed along with the
marketing communication plan.
1.1 Company overview
The North Face is renowned as a fashion retail company and it has been found in 1966. They
started their journey as climbing equipment retailers and increase the range of products over
the passage of time (Thenorthface.com, 2020). The aim of this company is to design the best
quality equipment for people who are explorers of modern times and athletes. The wide range
of products of this company has been designed differently as per the demands of males,
females, and kids. At present, this company has focused on designing the vegan collection-
feelfree and they are going to launch this product line in January 2020. This product line can
attract vegan customers towards this company and revenue generation can be increased after
this action.
2. Describing the value
2.1 Macro trends
For identifying a target market for a new product range of the north face, it is essential to
investigate the macro trends in the apparel industry. Vegan product demand is increasing day
by day and getting popularize among youths.
Rise of vegan fashion products demand
Veganism is rising and a number of non-vegans are adopting veganism every day. Many
people of the world challenge themselves to lead a life based only on plants and artificial
materials (Hollensen et al. 2017). They do this, with the target of saving animals and creating
a sustainable world. The US, UK, Germany, and France are some leading countries, which
are investing more in the vegan market and have a large number of vegans. As stated by Fox
(2017), in the UK, by the end of 2020 about 75% of the products will be vegans. On the other
hand, U.S has seen near about 11% growth and it is seen that a variety of vegan products are
being developed and imported in this country to satisfy the need of customers. Among other
European countries, France has seen 12% growth and by the end of 2024, this can increase its
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offering of vegan products. This is because Paris is committed to becoming a sustainable
fashion capital.
Figure 1: Vegan products in different countries
(Source: Fashionunited.uk, 2020)
Demand for vegan products online
From a recent survey, it was found that vegans use the internet a lot to search and trace
desired products. 96% of vegans use the internet to locate the products they need (Imaner.net,
2016). As opined by Bürklin (2019), different unique products can be searched by using the
internet. Moreover, in the report, it was published that many vegans in European countries
prefer to buy vegan products online. All over the world, around 75% of vegans prefer to buy
their desired products from different online sites. 79% of the vegan population in the United
States likes to make a purchase from online shopping sites or online shops of large
companies. Hence, promoting and marketing the new product line of Feelfree can be done
using different social media platforms. It can be seen that around 95% of the vegan
population wants to make a purchase from those companies who perform ethical business and
provides information transparently (Imaner.net, 2016)). This, the online platform can be used
properly to sell products transparently and ethically.
2.2 Target Group
The target group for the new product line Feelfree is vegan people and The North Face needs
a marketing plan that can help them attract this target customer group. According to Payne et
al. (2017), the number of vegans is increasing day by day throughout the world and this trend
is influencing cloth retailers to design vegan outfits to cover this group of European and
American countries. In European countries, the demands of vegan products are increasing in
countries including the UK, France, and Germany. In 2018, the vegan market has enlarged by
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24% in France and near about 10% of the UK kids are vegans. Near about 650000 UK
citizens have been found vegan and approximately 3.5% of US people are vegan
(Wtvox.com, 2019). However, the number of vegans is increasing in other countries of the
world as well and this company may gradually target those markets as well.
Based on the current demand of vegan people, this company needs to communicate with their
suppliers for getting raw materials that are not extracted from any living or dead animal at an
affordable cost. Baldassarre et al. (2017) have mentioned that this company needs to
communicate with vegan people to understand their needs. Based on that information the
vegan collection can be designed and launched. This target customer group is socially active
and they are using social media platforms to spread their message. #vegan has near about 61
million posts on Instagram and search on Google about veganism has increased in recent
times. As mentioned by Yang et al. (2017), this aspect must be considered while creating
marketing content to attract this target group. It has been found that most of the vegans are
high-income people and they can afford luxury clothing items that can comply with the
values of veganism. However, this company needs to design a vegan collection of both higher
and lower price ranges to satisfy the demands of vegan customers from all economic levels.
3. Creating the value
The North Face is providing a new vegan fashion product line to the target customers, which
can help to meet their needs. For this purpose, designing a new value proposition is
necessary.
Core product: the main purpose of the core proposition is to explain why the customers will
buy the new range of products (Alves et al. 2016). This vegan collection is going to include a
range of jackets, hoodies, boots, trousers, and tracksuits for men, women, and kids. These
product types will fulfill the need of the target group of customers. Among the core
propositions, vegan is the main criterion. All these products are vegan and did not contain
any parts of animals. The range of products will satisfy the needs of men, women, and
children. As stated by Godey et al. (2016), it is essential to satisfy every need of target
customers to gain their loyalty. Moreover, other core propositions include comfort. All these
products will be available in different sizes that can satisfy the needs of target consumers.
Moreover, the product will be available at different prices which ranges from 500 pounds to
2000 pounds. Thus, customers from the different economic background who follows
veganism can make a purchase from this brand. In addition, style and fashion is another
essential core proposition. All products of his fashion product lines are fashionable that suit
different customers of all ages.
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Actual product: According to Lundahl (2018), actual products are tangible physical state of
core products. The design of the vegan collection will be based on the preference of
customers from different countries. Recent work of top fashion brands of European and
American countries will be reviewed to understand the choice of the people of these countries
regarding planned products. As suggested by Dewi and Darma (2019), modern and casual
style can be considered suitable for this product line as most of the vegan people believe in
modern values. On the other hand, The North Face needs to ensure that they choose materials
that comply with the values of vegans. For example, plant fabrics including nylon, linen,
cotton can be used to make products of the vegan collection. They need to include this
approach in the marketing content to attract maximum vegans towards their business. The
brand name will be there with all of the products to make customers believe its authenticity.
The following part is providing the detailed offer of The North Face within the vegan
collection,
❏ Name of the Brand: The North Face
❏ Product for men: Jackets, Trousers, Hoodies, Tracksuits
❏ Product for women: Sweater, Jackets, Hoodies
❏ Kids product: Jackets, Sweater, Coat
❏ The material of the product: Plant fabrics including polyester, nylon, linen, cotton
❏ Style: Modern casual style
Extended product: The line of products will be available on online platforms, which can be
identified as an extended proposition o the customers. In the investigation, it was analyzed
that the majority of vegan customers in target regions prefer to use an online platform for
searching and purchasing products. The website of the company will be used for fulfilling the
purpose of promoting and selling the new product line. As opined by Todeschini et al.
(2017), additional facilities provided to the customers help to increase their satisfaction rate.
Offer during the time of product launching is another extended proposition of this new
product line. The vegan products can be purchased using different offers as provided by the
company. This includes a flat 20% discount on multiple purchases of any vegan fashion
products. As said by Iankova et al. (2019), different offers such as a discount on product
purchases help to gain the loyalty of current customers and help in attracting potential
customers. Another extended proposition of this product line is 24 x 7 customer support. As
discussed in the investigation, vegan customers want transparency and in an ethical way.
Hence, providing service to customer support can help customers to gain information about
products. After-sales service can also be given through this customer support process. On the
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other hand, upon making a purchase online, the parcel will be gained within 4-5 working
days. However, this can differ in case of any emergencies like natural disasters and problems
in transport. As mentioned by Mandal (2017), the fast transport of products is one of the main
needs of modern customers that can help a firm to gain competitiveness.
These value propositions can help The North Face to gain competitive advantage and attract
vegan customers from target regions.
4. Conveying the value
For preparing a communication plan for marketing, SOSTAC marketing planning model can
be adopted. This model has been developed in 1990, which is generally used for marketing
planning. There are 6 steps in this model, which include situational investigation, objectives,
strategies, tactics, actions, and control (De Veirman et al. 2017).
4.1 Objectives
Following SMART objectives need to be met by launching the vegan collection-feelfree,
Brand awareness objective: Increasing the brand awareness of this company by 40% in
the next 8 months
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
This objective is
specific as
increasing brand
awareness may
help this
company to
attract
maximum
potential
customers
towards their
business. As
stated by Agam
(2017), vegans
may purchase
the products of
The number of
vegan customers
and the sale of
vegan products
after launching
the feelfree
product line can
be measured to
understand the
result of
meeting this
objective.
It can be
achieved by
creating
awareness
among people
through online
and offline
modes of short-
term promotion.
It is relevant as
it can help this
company to be
recognized for
its vegan
products and it
can help to gain
maximum
financial
benefit.
This objective
can be achieved
within the next
8 months.
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the vegan
collection due to
the
trustworthiness
of the brand
Social media objective 1: Increasing the number of followers on Instagram by 20%
within the next 6 months
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
It is specific as
it can help to
attract more
Instagram users
towards the
vegan products
of this company
Importance of
meeting this
objective can be
measured by
estimating the
number of
Instagram
followers
It can be
achieved
through regular
posting on
Instagram
regarding values
behind creating
a vegan
collection
It is relevant as
it can help to get
maximum
potential vegan
customers
It can be met
within 6 months
Social media objective 2: Increasing the number of followers of the Facebook page by
20% in the next 3 months
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
It is specific as
meeting this
objective can
help to attract
maximum
Facebook users
who are vegan
Estimation of
likes and
followers of
Facebook are
the tools to
measure
It can be
achieved
through regular
posting on
Facebook page
and sharing
posts again and
again to reach a
maximum
It can help to
increase sales of
existing
products and
new vegan
customers can
be reached
It can be
achieved within
the next 3
months
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audience
Website objective: Increasing the visitor of the official website by 1 million in the next 6
months
Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound
It is specific as
it can help to
increase online
sales
It is possible to
measure the
sales
improvement
for
understanding
the effectiveness
of meeting this
objective
It can be
achieved
through
investing in
SEO, including
specific and
attractive
content on the
website and
maintain the
eye-soothing
design of the
website
It is relevant as
it can increase
revenue
generation
through
increasing sales
It can be
achieved within
the next 6
months
4.2 Strategy
This is the third step in the SOSTAC model, which helps to identify the tools that will be
required to achieve the objectives. The strategy can be set by following the STP model,
which helps in segmenting, targeting and positioning a new product. The fashion apparel is
mostly preferred by Millenials and they spend lots of money to buy fashion products. Hence,
the North Face will concentrate more on this group of consumers.
● For achieving the objective of gaining brand awareness, it is essential to conduct a
promotion on the online platform and physical stores, which can attract consumers of
different ages.
● For increasing viewers on social media pages like Instagram and Facebook, regular
posts are necessary regarding vegan collection and values provided to vegan
customers.
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● For gaining more viewers on the website, this firm needs to sell the Feelfree products
from the web portal and provide support to the customers instantly. Moreover, they
need to provide adequate information about this new range of vegan products on the
website. The information needs to be updated every month (Khan et al. 2019).
4.3 Tactics, actions required and control process
Tactics for gaining brand awareness
Traditional marketing can be done for increasing brand awareness. As opined by Wang and
Kim (2017), traditional marketing helps target customers to remember a brand. Moreover, it
helps to gain long term exposure in the market and impact on the purchasing behavior of
consumers.
Actions
The North face can conduct traditional marketing through different approaches like posters
and magazines. Posters in different stores can be installed to draw the attention of target
customers who needs vegan fashion products. [Referred to appendix 1]
In addition, different popular magazines can be used to provide details about the new range of
vegan products called Feelfree. A television advertisement is also a popular technique that
can be adopted to draw attention to a target range of customers (Assimakopoulos et al. 2017).
The date of launching the products and different offers can be shared on these platforms.
Control
For controlling these activities by using traditional approaches different techniques can be
used. The visitor flow rate and an increase in the sales rate of the new range of products can
be measured.
Tactics for achieving more visitors on social media pages
Social media marketing of the vegan product line of Feelfree can be done by The North Face.
This is a cost-effective way of promoting new products, which helps to attract a large number
of customers. Different social media pages like Facebook and Instagram are heavily followed
by people around the globe especially millennials.
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Figure 2: online media influencing in purchasing
(Source: Marketingcharts.com, 2018)
Actions
The North Face can use their social media pages like Facebook and Instagram to promote
vegan fashion apparel and attract target customers.
● Designing attractive advertisements highlighting date of launch, offers and product
details.
● Announcing the date of the launch at least once a week on these social media pages.
This can help to provide a reminder to interested customers (Tuten and Solomon,
2017).
● Using hashtags in every post, which can help to increase the reach of the post and
helps to make the posts training.
● Creating an event on Facebook about the launching date of the product. Moreover,
customers can be influenced to tag their friends in the event.
● It is an essential action to provide a reply to consumer queries in the comment section.
[Referred to appendix 3 and 4]
Control
Facebook and Instagram analytics can be used to measure the success rate. These facilities of
these social media sites help an organization to measure their post reach and other metrics.
Tactics to increase viewers of the website
An attractive and user-friendly web page can be designed for increasing viewers. As stated by
Felix et al. (2017), attractive images and transparent and detailed data on a website helps to
increase the satisfaction rate of customers.
Actions
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● Different details about a product launch, offers, product details, and attractive images
can be shared on the web page. [Referred to appendix 2]
● Paid marketing can be used to increase the reach of the website of The North Face.
Google keyword advertisement can be used. In addition, SEO or search engine
optimization can be adopted by this firm to increase the reach of this webpage and
attract desired customers. [Referred to appendix 5]
● Solving queries of customers in the feedback section of this page can also help in this
process.
Control
Google Analytics can be used to measure the success of this tactic. In this platform, different
metrics are provided to measure success.
5. Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be stated that marketing is an essential process, which helps
to gain the popularity of a product or organization. The North Face is going to launch fashion
products that are suitable for vegan customers. Different marketing tools like online
platforms, social media, and traditional media can be used to conduct the marketing process.
Attractive contents and intensity of marketing are essential factors behind the success of this
campaign. In addition, the skills of managers and the quality of products will be a decisive
factor to achieve brand success.
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